The Big Fat Marketing Blog

A total of 29 list management companies improved the quality of their datacards during the first quarter of this year, nearly double the 15 reported for the past quarter, according to NextMark’s just-released first quarter datacard quality report.

more

I couldn’t figure out why my Facebook fields were ignoring my request for donations to walk in an upcoming event for charity (well, I mean I KNOW why - I’m quick to “like” people’s baby pics, quick to ignore donation requests).

I was surprised that I hadn’t even received a comment about past Facebook links to my donation page… not even a snide remark.

So when I childishly posted a link to the donation page and said that none of my friends cared… the comments (and donations rolled in). more

I can’t believe the uproar over the creative used in an email J. Crew sent to customers last week. J. Crew president and esteemed creative director Jenna Lyons shared a few of her favorite products in the email feature titled “Saturday With Jenna.”

One of those things is a hot-pink Essie nail polish, which Lyons’ young son Beckett is sporting in the photo. Horrors!

People seemed particularly upset by the photo’s caption, which reads, “Lucky for me I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon.” more

The Direct Marketing Association is about to break what sure feels like an uncomfortable proactive silence on the Epsilon data breach. Without mentioning the company by name, on Thursday April 14 the DMA is scheduled to send a letter to its members from Senny Boone, the organization’s SVP of corporate responsibility.

The letter will mark the most public, if oblique, comments the DMA has made on the Epsilon matter without being solicited by reporters. The breach was first reported more than a week and a half ago.

Within the letter, Boone urges members to review a posted checklist for data-breach planning (which predates the Epsilon event). The checklist is available here. more

No Flippin’ Way! My wife bought me a HD Flip when our son was born less than seven months ago. Now it’s about to become as obsolete as Kodak Disc film (and Kodak Disc cameras!).

Cisco announced yesterday it was pulling the plug on Flip, the mini digital camcorder made by a company it acquired for $590 million just two years ago, Pure Digital. more

No matter what your marketing medium of choice is today—direct mail, email, social, TV, whatever—one thing is certain. Consumers are overloaded, and they’ll only give your message a moment’s thought before they decide whether to consider your offer or move on.

That’s why several emails from J. Jill this weekend annoyed me. I shop from the chain, which is why they email me just about every day, and send me a print catalog almost every week .

more